Electrical heating assemblies are used in a variety of applications, including heat exchangers, circulation systems, steam boilers, and immersion heaters. An electric heating assembly generally includes a sheath, dielectric insulation within the sheath, an electrical resistance coil embedded in the dielectric insulation, and a conductor pin extending from the electrical resistance coil. Many applications and systems that include electric heating assemblies are rated for low voltage operations, where voltages below 600 volts can be considered low voltages. For example, many current heat exchangers operate with voltages in the range of 480 to 600 volts. More recently, various applications and systems for electric heating element assemblies have been proposed that operate above 600 volts. For example, heat exchangers that operate in the range of 600 to 38,000 volts have been proposed. These higher capacity heat exchangers are proposed as environmentally friendly alternatives to fuel-based heat exchangers. Voltages between 600 and 38,000 volts can be considered medium voltages. These higher voltages can place greater demands on the electric heating assembly.
A concern with electrical heating assemblies is moisture in contact with the electrical heating elements. Moisture may accumulate within the electrical heating assembly and may cause failure of the electrical heating elements. Current systems utilize a soft-start to attempt to eliminate water in contact with the electrical heating elements. Soft-start systems are ordinarily not intelligent and can only follow a preset start-up process. A soft-start system cannot identify the presence, or absence, of moisture and cannot ensure that moisture has been eliminated from the electrical heating assembly after the soft-start process. The soft-start process may also run for longer than necessary and may result in wasted power, time, and productivity.